A Coronation, Eurovision, a surplus of Bank Holidays, the rise of the machines, the return of the Comparative Law Table and the sun set on the ‘sunset clause’ – that pretty much sums up May! Spring has well and truly sprung - grab the factor 50, pull up a patio chair and enjoy the highlights in this month’s In Brief!

AI and Emerging Technologies

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is launching a review of the artificial intelligence (AI) market. It will include the models behind popular chatbots like ChatGPT. The AI industry has faced scrutiny from regulators lately, over the pace at which it is developing technology to mimic human behaviour. Meanwhile the ‘Godfather’ of AI, Geoffrey Hinton quit his job, warning about the growing dangers from developments in the field. He told the BBC some of the dangers of AI chatbots were "quite scary". " Right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be."

For an update on the most recent developments in ChatGPT, have a look at this article from Legal Island.

Meanwhile, BT announced that it is to axe up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 replacing around 10,000 of them with AI. Many of them will be in HR(!)

Lus Laboris had an interesting take on Diversity and Inclusion in the Metaverse discussing the two key ways that this virtual reality could impact upon diversity and inclusion in the workplace. They looked at some potential benefits and pitfalls of work in the metaverse from the perspective of diversity and inclusion, considering a workplace staffed not just by humans but also by their avatars.

The content on existing social media platforms was also questioned this month with Frank Cassidy, former Principal and Regional Officer of ASCL discussing the “Andrew Tate Effect” and asked who is shaping the values for school boys?

Brexit Freedoms Bill

Daniel Barnett reported that the government has announced in a written statement to parliament that it is abandoning the sunset clause in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. As the Bill is currently drafted, almost all EU law is automatically revoked at the end of 2023, unless a statutory instrument is passed to preserve it.

The Government has published a list of EU based statutory instruments that it intends to repeal on 31 December 2023 which includes a number relevant to employment law. Full list here:
https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/51031/documents/3380

Lewis Silkin told us that other suggested changes are being discussed, including the chance that non-competes will be limited to three months, rolled up holiday pay will be allowed, and employers will not always have to elect representatives for TUPE transfers, according to the government’s Smarter Regulation paper released on 10th May. In its policy paper on Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy the government has given us a first glimpse of how it plans to reform employment law post-Brexit. The biggest news is the plan to limit non-competes to three months (although this has nothing to do with Brexit, as the EU never regulated non-compete clauses). Limited reforms to the Working Time Regulations and TUPE have also been announced.

Comparative Law

Don’t forget to download your FREE copy of the Comparative Law Table – prepared in association with Lewis Silkin LLP, it’s essential reading for anyone employing people across the jurisdictions! You can also catch up on the Comparative Law webinar with Lewis Silkin LLP HERE where they talk all things redundancy and restructuring in GB, NI and ROI.

Legal Island turns 25!

In May we launched our FREE Anniversary webinars – Workforce 2.0. In celebration of our Silver Anniversary, we want to make sure you’re up-to-date and ready for the future in HR and employment law. See you at 1 (or all?!) of the webinars (did I say they’re absolutely free?!) throughout June and the start of July!

Have a great June!